The present invention relates to a hybrid system for cooling structures of gas turbine engines using a combination of vapor cooling and air cooling.
Known gas turbine engines have utilized superalloys, thermal barrier coatings (TBCs), and fluidic cooling schemes in order to provide engine structures that can operate efficiently at high temperatures and pressures while still maintaining a relatively long lifespan. Furthermore, “cooled” cooling air systems have been developed that reject thermal energy from air that is then used to provide cooling to various gas turbine engine components. However, the ability to provide cooled cooling air in a volume and with adequately low thermal energy to provide cooling to all of the static and rotating components of a gas turbine engine would be extremely demanding on the cooled cooling air systems, making suitable cooled cooling air systems undesirably large, heavy and complex. Therefore, it is desired to provide improved cooling capabilities for gas turbine engines, in order to better maintain engine components at temperatures below designated maximum operating temperature levels.